Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/289434
By Steve Corkran San Jose Mercury News @CorkOnTheNFL on Twitter ConCord » NaVorro Bowman walked into an apparel store on Tuesday without the aid of another person or crutches and with a smile on his face. That's quite a contrast from the last time 49ers fans saw Bowman in public, when he lay on the ground writhing in pain in the team's season-ending loss. Bowman suffered torn ante - rior cruciate and medial collat- eral ligaments in his left knee during a fourth-quarter play against the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship game Jan. 19. On Tuesday, Bowman's prog - ress was obvious by the way he strolled into a store in an East Bay mall, and laughed it up as he signed autographs. "Look at me, I'm walking," Bowman said. "So, that's good enough, man. I'm not really thinking about practice or any - thing. I'm happy to be walking and happy to be able to play again." Bowman, who turns 26 in late May, is rehabilitating his knee in Miami under the guidance of the trainer who helped Min - nesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson bounce back strong from a similar knee in- jury in 2011. Once he completes that por- tion of his rehab, Bowman said, he intends to work out under the watchful eyes of 49ers trainers nFL 49ers' Bowman has a spring to his step San Francisco linebacker says he's 'happy to be walking' aer suffering knee injury Doug Duran — Bay area news group san Francisco 49ers player naVorro Bowman signs his autograph for rena Bernardino, 7, of Daly City, during an autograph session at the "Fresh" men's and women's fashion store at the sunvalley shopping Center in Concord on Tuesday. Doug Duran — Bay area news group san Francisco 49ers player naVorro Bowman talks to members of the media in Concord on Tuesday. Bowman suffered torn ligaments in his le knee in the team's season-ending loss. Online: Follow steve Corkran of the san Jose Mercury news @CorkonThenFL on twitter.cOm. By Janie McCauley The Associated Press STAnFord » Mikaela Ruef found herself an engineering job on campus last spring and started sporting a hard hat and safety glasses to pay for her fi - nal two quarters at Stanford, knowing she no longer had a basketball scholarship as a fifth- year senior. The approximate price tag: $40,000. Injuries to a pair of team - mates opened up one the pro- gram's 15 scholarships to Ruef after all, and she has gone from the end of the bench as a fresh- man to unlikely Stanford Re- gional MVP to help lead the Cardinal back to the Final Four after last season's disappointing miss. Her voice hoarse and a back - ward Final Four hat with a piece of net hanging from it on her head, Ruef realized after Tuesday night's win over North Carolina that it's been quite a journey from her days "hugging the water cooler" as coach Tara VanDerveer referred to her old sideline seat. "Happy is not happy enough," Ruef said. "It's more than that." Ruef's rise to NCAA tourna - ment star has been a surprising one, especially since there were nCAA woMen'S TournAMenT Ruef a surprise star in Stanford's surge Injuries open scholarship for regional MVP as Cardinal make return trip to Final Four JeFF Chiu — The assoCiaTeD press stanford forward Mikaela ruef (3) celebrates aer scoring, next to north Carolina forward stephanie Mavunga (1) during the second half of the regional final Tuesday at the nCaa women's basketball tournament in stanford. stanford won 74-65. By Josh dubow The Associated Press oAKLAnd » With All-Star Bartolo Colon gone to New York and pro- jected opening day starter Jar- rod Parker out for the season with an elbow injury, the Oakland Ath- letics are relying heavily on new- comer Scott Kazmir to help anchor the rotation. Kazmir sure made a favorable first impression. Kazmir shut out his former team into the eighth inning in his Oak - land debut, and the Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians 6-1 in the first game of a day-night double- header on Wednesday. "You always want to make that good first impression and that's what he did," catcher Derek Nor - ris said. "If he had any type of pres- sure on his shoulders to do some- thing good I think that's pretty much eliminated." Alberto Callaspo hit a two-run homer and Yoenis Cespedes, Jed Lowrie and Brandon Moss added RBI hits for the Athletics, who BASeBALL Kazmir lis A's to win over Indians 6-1 Newcomer shuts out former team into eighth Ben MargoT — The assoCiaTeD press The oakland athletics' scott Kazmir works against the Cleveland indians on wednesday. The Associated Press SAn AnTonIo » Tony Parker had 18 points and eight assists, Tim Dun- can had 15 points and eight re- bounds and the San Antonio Spurs rolled to a 111-90 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Wednes- day night, extending their fran- chise-record winning streak to 19 games. San Antonio (59-16) extended its league-leading record to four games over the Thunder (54-19) ahead of their matchup tonight in Oklahoma City. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was able to rest his core players with his team leading by as many as 26 points and never trailing af - ter the opening three minutes. Duncan played only 20 minutes and Parker 28. Both sat out the en- tire fourth quarter. Manu Ginobili and Patty Mills scored 13 points apiece, Marco Be- linelli had 12 and Kawhi Leonard 11. San Antonio swept the four- game season series against Golden nBA Parker scores 18, Duncan 15 to lead Spurs past Warriors athletics 6, indians 1 Up next: The second game of wednesday's doubleheader was not done by press time. THE SCORE spUrs 111, warriOrs 90 Up next: Friday, golden state hosts the sacramento Kings at 7:30 p.m., TV on CsnBa. THE SCORE a sense of belonging to the middle class occupies a cherished place in america. it conjures images of self-suffi- cient people with stable jobs and pleasant homes working toward prosperity. InCoMe Middle-class status slipping for many FUll stOrY On paGe b4 red Bluff high's boys golf team will host a sac river League match at 1 p.m. today at wilcox oaks golf Club. The boys tennis team travels to Foothill at 3:30 p.m. SprIng SporTS Red Bluff boys golf, tennis teams in action The Corning Cardinals boys tennis team will host ander- son at 3:30 p.m. today. The Cards boys golf team will travel to Tierra oaks golf Course at noon. SprIng SporTS Corning High tennis team hosts Anderson get your puzzles fix with the nea Crossword, 7 Little words and Celebrity Cipher, start your day off right with your horoscope, and read the latest advice dolled out by Carolyn hax. Your dAILY BreAK Fun and games inside today paGe b3 BowMAn » pAge 2 rueF » pAge 2 wArrIorS » pAge 2 A'S » pAge 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, April 3, 2014 » More aT FacebOOK.cOm/rbdailYnews anD twitter.cOm/redblUFFnews B1